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Fact of the day: 5th May

On this day in 1977 Ludwig Erhard, German politician, Chancellor of Germany, died.

He is notable for his leading role in German postwar economic reform and economic recovery (“Wirtschaftswunder”, German for “economic miracle”), particularly in his role as Minister of Economics under Chancellor Konrad Adenauer in 1949, prior to his own ascension to the Chancellorship in 1963.

After the war, Erhard became economic consultant for the American military administration of Bavaria who made him Minister of Economics in the Bavarian cabinet of Wilhelm Hoegner.

After the American and British administration had created the Bizone, Erhard became chairman of the Sonderstelle Geld und Kredit in 1947, an expert commission preparing the currency reform.

The newly created Special Department for Money and Credit in Germany’s western zones of occupation in September 1947, under Erhard, focused attention immediately upon the general theme of monetary and financial recovery, resulting in the adoption of the so-called Homburg plan in April 1948 that set the stage for the recovery of the economy.